Yesterday I found a female Holly Blue feeding on heather at Raw Nook Nr…It is uncommon to have sightings of this species in autumn here. Then as I was walking back through the reserve I glimpsed a juvenile Phylloscopus warbler showing fairly clean whitish underparts, suggesting a Wood Warbler…but sadly the bird was gone in a flash so it goes in the ‘ One that got away drawer’…Oh! well..
The Lowland Heath habitat at Raw Nook Nr
Rowan berries…waiting for the Thrushes to arrive
I decided to do a mornings birding around the patch today with two things in mind. One was to see if there were any new migrants passing through and the other to see how many local migrants had moved on during this cool spell. However, I was distracted by the excellent number of Goldfinches that are feeding at the moment at Caldene Fields. An estimated count was made of 120+ birds including many juvenile birds. Also within this group were at least 4 Siskin and 1 Lesser Redpoll.
A total of 29 different species were recorded. But what was interesting was that I didn’t record any Blackbirds, Dunnock or House Sparrow…… Having said that House Sparrows tend to leave Caldene Fields and local gardens around this time of the year probably taking advantage of other food sources and returned around October. A guess might be that the Blackbird and Dunnock are doing the same.
A Brown Hawker dragonfly and a male Common Darter were at Toad Holes Beck.
Female Common Darter
Whilst conducting my visible migration watch this morning at Caldene Fields I observed 4 single Great Spotted Woodpeckers flying to the west plus I had one local bird in Raw Nook Nr…all very interesting.
Though the birds do not typically migrate, they can be nomadic with regards to the best food sources throughout the year, so they are on the move…keep an eye you may notice movements of these woodpeckers.
There was a movement of Swallow noted today at Caldene Fields watch point with 56 moving to the west. These were followed by 4 Sand Martins again to the west and given that SMs are not that common here on passage…they were a good find.
But better still was a Pintail (duck) which came in low from the N/E and flew W
Did an hours vismigging (watching visible migration) this morning at Caldene Fields mainly to see if any Meadow Pipits were starting to move south. However, none were recorded. The first moving Chaffinch moved to the S/W followed by 3 Swallows to the W.
Two Willow Warblers were at the watch point and as I was walking back to Raw Nook Nr I saw a Spotted Flycatcher sitting on a fence. The bird was passing through and this is the first sighting for many years…
Found a Migrant Hawker Dragonfly at Raw Nook Nr yesterday…a first for the site. The dragonfly as you can see from the photo’s appears to be newly emerged and could well have bred at the site…
You may ask what has the Low Moor railway station got to do with my wildlife site…Well a while ago my group the Low Moor & Oakenshaw Conservation Group was consulted about the planting scheme for the new station site.
This is where my wildlife record came into play. I explained not only is the new station going to be adjacent to Raw Nook (Railway Terrace) nature reserve but my records show there is an urban migration route that runs S/W and the new station would be on that route. Therefore if the planting could be of native species and perhaps a wildlife meadow this would ecologically enhance the area.
Well the plans are now out for the new station and Brilliant news there is going to be a small wildlife meadow and native trees and shrubs are to be planted…
Please see plans: Low Moor station
What a beautiful morning! I thought as I worked the patch today. Blackcaps, Willow warbler and Chiffchaffs were all in song as well as local birds. But like the last few days other that that no Whitethroat Sp were singing and to be fair not that much was about. Although a pair of Grey Wagtails at Caldene Fields and some lovely spring flowers did brighten things up.
As I have said before spring moths and butterflies are in short supply due to the cool weather. However, there was a ‘slight’ improvement overnight and a small number of usual moths were caught and logged these were : 1 Heart and Dart, I Shuttle-Shaped Dart, 1 White Ermine and 2 small-Square Spot
Welcome to my new updated website, which should be more user friendly. However it is still work in progress.
Updates:
A juvenile Grey Wagtail was at Caldene Fields on 20/8 which suggests local breeding as a pair have been seen on a number of occasions.
You may have noticed given the recent warm muggy nights an increase in large moths which show a yellow underwing as they fly away. These are Large Yellow Underwings and on the 21/8 I had a record count of 204 LYU at Caldene fields. Also at the site I found 2 new species of marco moth a Dusky Thorn and a Double Lobed this brings the total of moths for the site to 196.
The first signs of migration were noted at Caldene Fields on the 22/8 with 7 Swallows moving west and a juvenile Common Whitethroat feeding (which has probably come from the Old Low Moor Tip site where breeding has taken place).
A kingfisher was at Toad Hole Beck also on the 22/8 which is a very early date as it is usually early winter before the species appears.
A healthy feeding flock of 36 Goldfinches including many juveniles were at Caldene Fields also on 22/8
